Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes
Récits d’un bourgeois de Valenciennes aka The Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes is a vivid 14th-century vernacular chronicle written by an anonymous urban chronicler from Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut. It survives in a manuscript that describes local and regional history from about 1253 to 1366, blending chronology, narrative episodes, and eyewitness-style accounts of political, military, and social events in medieval France, Flanders, and the Low Countries. The work begins with a chronological framework of events affecting Valenciennes and its region under rulers such as King Philip VI of France and the shifting allegiances of local nobility. It includes accounts of conflicts, sieges, diplomatic manoeuvres, and the impact of broader struggles like the Hundred Years’ War on urban life in Hainaut. Written from the perspective of a burgher (bourgeois) rather than a monastery or royal court, the chronicle offers a rare lay viewpoint on high politics and warfare, reflecting how merchants, townspeople, and civic institutions experienced the turbulence of the 13th and 14th centuries. Its narrative style combines straightforward reporting of events with moral and civic observations, making it a valuable source for readers interested in medieval urban society, regional politics, and the lived experience of war and governance in pre-modern Europe.
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Paternal Family Tree: Fane
On 19th November 1707 [her father] Charles Fane 1st Viscount Fane [aged 31] and [her mother] Mary Stanhope Viscountess Fane [aged 21] were married.
On 22nd March 1717 Dorothy Fane Countess Sandwich was born to [her father] Charles Fane 1st Viscount Fane [aged 41] and [her mother] Mary Stanhope Viscountess Fane [aged 31].
On 22nd April 1718 [her father] Charles Fane 1st Viscount Fane [aged 42] was created 1st Viscount Fane, 1st Baron Fane of Loughguyre in the County of Limerick. [her mother] Mary Stanhope Viscountess Fane [aged 32] by marriage Viscountess Fane.
On 20th October 1729 Edward Montagu 3rd Earl Sandwich [aged 59] died. He was buried at All Saints Church, Barnwell [Map]. His grandson [her future husband] John [aged 10] succeeded 4th Earl Sandwich.
On 14th March 1741 John Montagu 4th Earl Sandwich [aged 22] and Dorothy Fane Countess Sandwich [aged 23] were married. She by marriage Countess Sandwich.
On 26th January 1744 [her son] John Montagu 5th Earl Sandwich was born to [her husband] John Montagu 4th Earl Sandwich [aged 25] and Dorothy Fane Countess Sandwich [aged 26]. He married (1) 1st March 1766 his fifth cousin once removed Elizabeth Montague-Dunk, daughter of George Montagu Dunk 2nd Earl Halifax, and had issue (2) 25th April 1772 Maria Henrietta Powlett, daughter of Harry Powlett 6th Duke Bolton and Katherine Lowther Duchess of Bolton, and had issue.
On 4th July 1744 [her father] Charles Fane 1st Viscount Fane [aged 68] died. His son [her brother] Charles [aged 36] succeeded 2nd Viscount Fane, 2nd Baron Fane of Loughguyre in the County of Limerick.
On 30th June 1745 [her son] Edward Montagu was born to [her husband] John Montagu 4th Earl Sandwich [aged 26] and Dorothy Fane Countess Sandwich [aged 28]. He died aged seven in 1752.
On 23rd February 1748 [her daughter] Mary Montagu was born to [her husband] John Montagu 4th Earl Sandwich [aged 29] and Dorothy Fane Countess Sandwich [aged 30].
Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes
Récits d’un bourgeois de Valenciennes aka The Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes is a vivid 14th-century vernacular chronicle written by an anonymous urban chronicler from Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut. It survives in a manuscript that describes local and regional history from about 1253 to 1366, blending chronology, narrative episodes, and eyewitness-style accounts of political, military, and social events in medieval France, Flanders, and the Low Countries. The work begins with a chronological framework of events affecting Valenciennes and its region under rulers such as King Philip VI of France and the shifting allegiances of local nobility. It includes accounts of conflicts, sieges, diplomatic manoeuvres, and the impact of broader struggles like the Hundred Years’ War on urban life in Hainaut. Written from the perspective of a burgher (bourgeois) rather than a monastery or royal court, the chronicle offers a rare lay viewpoint on high politics and warfare, reflecting how merchants, townspeople, and civic institutions experienced the turbulence of the 13th and 14th centuries. Its narrative style combines straightforward reporting of events with moral and civic observations, making it a valuable source for readers interested in medieval urban society, regional politics, and the lived experience of war and governance in pre-modern Europe.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
On 7th June 1749 [her brother] Charles Fane 2nd Viscount Fane [aged 41] and [her sister-in-law] Susanna Marriott Viscountess Fane were married at St Benet's Church, Paul's Wharf [Map]. She by marriage Viscountess Fane.
In February 1752 [her son] William Augustus Montagu was born to [her husband] John Montagu 4th Earl Sandwich [aged 33] and Dorothy Fane Countess Sandwich [aged 34].
On 2nd November 1752 [her son] Edward Montagu [aged 7] died. He was buried at All Saints Church, Barnwell [Map].
On 25th June 1761 [her daughter] Mary Montagu [aged 13] died. She was buried at All Saints Church, Barnwell [Map].
In 1762 [her mother] Mary Stanhope Viscountess Fane [aged 76] died.
Letters of Horace Walpole. Arlington Street, Jul 12, 1765.
If you knew with what difficulty and pain I write to you you would allow my dear sir that I have some zeal for your satisfaction I have been extremely ill for these last sixteen days with the gout all over me in head stomach and both feet but as it never budged from the latter it soon attracted all the venom from the upper parts Oh it is a venomous devil I have lain upon a couch for two days but I question whether I shall be so alert to day as I have had a great deal of pain in the night and little sleep Still I must write to you as it is both for your satisfaction and my own and as this is the first moment that I have enjoyed the liberty of the post for these three years We e may say what we will I may launch out and even you need not be discreet when our letters pass through Mr Conway's office He has already himself told you in form that he is your principal and I repeat how glad of it I am for your sake as well as for all others I told him last night that I believed the Duke of York had obtained the promise of a red riband for you and begged that promise at least of the late odious ministers might be fulfilled and that none of our new aspirants might be thrust in before you He readily with kind expressions towards you promised me his interest.
kind expressions towards you promised me his interest Well at last the four tyrants are gone undone by their own insolence and unpitied Their arrogance to the King and proscriptions of every body but their own crew forced his Majesty to try any thing rather than submit to such task masters Mr Pitt who was ready and willing to have assumed the burden was disappointed by the treachery of Lord Temple who has reconciled and leagued himself with his brother George In this distress the Duke of Čumberland has persuaded the Opposition to accept and form a ministry Without Mr Pitt they were unwilling but pressed and encouraged by Mr Pitt and fearing the crown should be reduced to worse shifts rather than again bend to the yoke they have submitted and every thing promises fairer than could be expected The Duke of Bedford, Grenville and the two secretaries are already dismissed and their places filled by Lord Winchelsea Lord Rockingham and Mr Dowdswell as First Commissioners of the Admiralty and Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer the Duke of Grafton and Mr Conway The list of ins and outs will be much more considerable by degrees though not rapidly nor executed with the merciless hand of late years for the present system is composed of men as much more virtuous in that respect as in every other than their predecessors Nobody has resigned yet but those immediately connected with the fallen as Lord Gower Lord Thomond and Lord Weymouth and who would not have been suffered to stay if they had desired it.
The crown of Ireland is offered to Lord Heriford All this sets my family in an illustrious light enough yet it does not dazzle me My wishes and intentions are just the same as they were Moderation privacy and quiet sum up all my future views and having seen my friends landed my little cock boat shall waft me to Strawberry as soon as I am able to get into it The gout they tell me is to ensure me a length of years and health but as I fear I must now and then renew the patent at the original expense I am not much flattered by so dear an annuity You may judge of my sensations when I tell you I reckon the greatest miracle ever performed was that of bidding the cripple take up his bed and walk I could as soon do the former as the latter .
Since I began to write I hear that this morning have kissed hands Lord Ashburnham [aged 40] for the Great Wardrobe in room of Lord Despencer, Lord Besborough and Lord Grantham Postmasters in the places of Lord Hyde and Lord Trevor Lord Villierst as Vicechamberlain instead of old Will Finch who believe has a pension and Lord Scarborough who succeeds Lord Thomond in the Cofferer's office You will say that all this is strongly tinctured with peerage it is true but the House of Commons will have its dole though not yet as folks do not like a re election depending for six months.
The Duke of Bolton [aged 47] the other morning nobody knows why or wherefore except that there is a good deal of madness in the blood sat himself down upon the floor in his dressing room and shot him self through the head. What is more remarkable is that it is the same house and same chamber in which Lord Scarborough performed the same exploit I do not believe that shooting one's self through the head is catching or that any contagion lies in a wainscot that makes one pull a suicide trigger but very possibly the idea might revert and operate on the brain of a splenetic man I am glad he had not a blue garter but a red one as the more plenty the sooner one gets to Florence.
This is a long epistle in my condition Pray unseal and decypher your lips now the tower has no longer the least air of the Bastille. Halifax, [her husband] Sandwich [aged 46] and General Warrants are sent to the devil though I believe Sandwich will contrive to return like Belphegor even though he should be obliged to marry his own wife [aged 48] again but he can never get rid of the smell of brimstone Adieu.
Around 24th January 1766 [her brother] Charles Fane 2nd Viscount Fane [aged 58] died without issue. Viscount Fane and Baron Fane of Loughguyre in the County of Limerick extinct. His estates were divided between his surviving sisters Mary Fane and Dorothy Fane Countess Sandwich [aged 48].
On 1st March 1766 John Montagu 5th Earl Sandwich [aged 22] and Elizabeth Montague-Dunk were married. She the daughter of George Montagu Dunk 2nd Earl Halifax [aged 49]. He the son of John Montagu 4th Earl Sandwich [aged 47] and Dorothy Fane Countess Sandwich [aged 48]. They were fifth cousin once removed.
On 25th April 1772 John Montagu 5th Earl Sandwich [aged 28] and Maria Henrietta Powlett were married. She the daughter of Harry Powlett 6th Duke Bolton [aged 51] and Katherine Lowther Duchess of Bolton [aged 36]. He the son of John Montagu 4th Earl Sandwich [aged 53] and Dorothy Fane Countess Sandwich [aged 55].
In January 1776 [her son] William Augustus Montagu [aged 23] died.
On 30th April 1792 [her husband] John Montagu 4th Earl Sandwich [aged 73] died. He was buried at All Saints Church, Barnwell [Map]. His son John [aged 48] succeeded 5th Earl Sandwich.
On 17th July 1797 Dorothy Fane Countess Sandwich [aged 80] died. She was buried at All Saints Church, Barnwell [Map].
Abbot John Whethamstede’s Chronicle of the Abbey of St Albans
Abbot John Whethamstede's Register aka Chronicle of his second term at the Abbey of St Albans, 1451-1461, is a remarkable text that describes his first-hand experience of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses including the First and Second Battles of St Albans, 1455 and 1461, respectively, their cause, and their consequences, not least on the Abbey itself. His text also includes Loveday, Blore Heath, Northampton, the Act of Accord, Wakefield, and Towton, and ends with the Coronation of King Edward IV. In addition to the events of the Wars of the Roses, Abbot John, or his scribes who wrote the Chronicle, include details in the life of the Abbey such as charters, letters, land exchanges, visits by legates, and disputes, which provide a rich insight into the day-to-day life of the Abbey, and the challenges faced by its Abbot.
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16th June 1884. Erected by Edward Montagu 8th Earl Sandwich [aged 44]. Wall plaque listing those buried beneath the chancel of All Saints Church, Barnwell [Map].
Henry Montagu. Note. Mistake. Died 1625.
Paulina Pepys, wife of Sidney Montagu
Mary Anne Boyle, wife of Edward Montagu 2nd Earl Sandwich
Edward Montagu 2nd Earl Sandwich
Edward Montagu Viscount Hinchingbrooke
Edward Montagu 3rd Earl Sandwich
Unknown Sarah Montagu died 1739, widow of Edward Montagu
[her son] Edward Montagu
[her former brother-in-law] Captain William Montagu
[her daughter] Mary Montagu
[her former daughter-in-law] Elizabeth Montague-Dunk
John Montagu 4th Earl Sandwich
Dorothy Fane Countess Sandwich
Charlotte Maylor
John Montagu 5th Earl Sandwich
George Montagu 6th Earl Sandwich
Catherine Caroline Montagu Countess Colonna-Walewski
Louise-Marie Colonna-Walewska
Louisa Lowry-Corry Countess of Sandwich
John William Montagu 7th Earl Sandwich.
Kings Wessex: Great x 20 Grand Daughter of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 17 Grand Daughter of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 23 Grand Daughter of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 18 Grand Daughter of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings Godwinson: Great x 20 Grand Daughter of King Harold II of England
Kings England: Great x 10 Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 19 Grand Daughter of King Duncan I of Scotland
Kings Franks: Great x 26 Grand Daughter of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
Kings France: Great x 21 Grand Daughter of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 24 Grand Daughter of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 4 Grandfather: George Fane 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Fane
Great x 4 Grandmother: Joan Waller
Great x 2 Grandfather: Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Neville 6th and 4th Baron Abergavenny 
4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Mary Neville 7th and 5th Baroness Abergavenny 3rd Baroness Despencer 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Frances Manners Baroness Bergavenny 
5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 1 Grandfather: George Fane 7 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Walter Mildmay 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Anthony Mildmay 9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Mary Walsingham 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Sharington of Lacock in Wiltshire
Great x 3 Grandmother: Grace Sharington
Great x 4 Grandmother: Anne Paggett of Lacock Abbey
GrandFather: Henry Fane 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Father: Charles Fane 1st Viscount Fane 9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Richard Southcott
Great x 1 Grandfather: Thomas Southcott
GrandMother: Elizabeth Southcott
Dorothy Fane Countess Sandwich 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Michael Stanhope 
4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Stanhope 5 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Anne Rawson
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Stanhope 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Port
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Port
Great x 1 Grandfather: Philip Stanhope 1st Earl Chesterfield 7 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Giles Alington
Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Alington
Great x 4 Grandmother: Alice Middleton
Great x 2 Grandmother: Cordelia Alington
GrandFather: Alexander Stanhope 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Pakington 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Pakington of Hampton Lovett
Great x 2 Grandfather: John "Lusty" Pakington
Great x 1 Grandmother: Anne Pakington Countess Chesterfield
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Smith of Withcote in Leicestershire
Great x 3 Grandfather: Ambrose Smith of Withcote in Leicestershire
Great x 4 Grandmother: Dorothy Cave
Great x 2 Grandmother: Dorothy Smith
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Coe of Coggleshall in Essex
Great x 3 Grandmother: Jane Coe
Mother: Mary Stanhope Viscountess Fane 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England